Our offense still has a lot of room to improve, a much larger ceiling if you prefer. The defenses we've faced seemed to take away one thing and take advantage of the inexperience in certain areas, mainly quarterback. Neither Cade or JJ have a lot of experience reading defenses. Wisconsin ignored the deep post and tight end streaks for the most part. Rutgers didn't care if Michigan threw it or not and Nebraska pretty much abandoned the middle of the field on every other play and would've enticed even Tom Brady to run once or twice. Northwestern took away the passing game.
That's right they pretty much dared Michigan to run the ball for most of the afternoon. As it turned out Michigan actually threw the ball against two deep and quarters looks stubbornly. The obvious intent was to work on the passing game regardless of where the dbs lined up. It also emphasizes the importance of accuracy and zip in the short passing game and the necessary arm strength to throw into tighter windows downfield on the third and mediums or longer when it was needed. The fact that NW pretty much panicked in coverage and grabbed the Michigan receivers on several plays suggests they were more concerned with the skill players on the outside hitting them for big plays than they were with Michigan's star running backs.
On the sack the NW linebacker blitzed from depth as an unblocked. Therefore this one wasn't on the quarterback, but rather more on the slot receiver which was Henning. Henning saw the blitzer first and if he had more experience he probably would've sat down for a hot route and picked up about 20 yards on the play.
On the punt block, Cornelius Johnson showed why he may be the most underrated athlete on the team. That was an explosive play. Anthony did a great job getting down field and wiping out a db on Haskins longer touchdown run.
There were about a half dozen obvious holds against our defensive linemen and blitzing linebackers that weren't called. And how could anyone look at the DJ Turner play and not call offensive PI. What we should like to know is what was that official thinking? That wasn't exactly hard to miss from anywhere in the stadium. Something else we'd all like to know is why do officials seem to think it's acceptable for offensive linemen to hold Aiden Hutchison every play?
The run/pass mix on the drive right before the half was a thing of beauty and if it weren't for the Sainristil fumble, that drive may have set the mood for an even bigger day. The drive right after halftime was even better providing evidence that Blake Corum is one of the most exciting players in the country. Hopefully he'll get plenty more opportunities against two-deep safety looks like he did on this drive. These were drives where you can see the potential of this offense. Minus a few defensive plays against the screen game, in the second half Michigan imposed their will and looked like a team with playoff aspirations. We still haven't played a complete game.
NW schemed against the Michigan linebackers in coverage. The first paly from scrimmage was a wheel route that appeared to be Josh Ross's guy. Michigan was also vulnerable against the screen game when the linebackers needed to get involved. You can expect a lot of screens and wheel routes coming our way from future opponents, including the Spartans, even though Walker doesn't seem to be heavily involved in the passing game.
On the big running play by NW Junior Colston was out of position, but the play went big because Hawkins took a horrible pursuit angle and allowed for the home run. Colston made a great play on one of the screens in the second half.
DJ Turner appeared to check a lot of boxes for what the team has been lacking at cornerback. With Green, Gray and Turner it would be nice if Turner could develop into someone who can cover the top guy, freeing up Dax Hill to roam more and for the other two to cover secondary receivers against a team like the Buckeyes.
NW didn't look like the worst team in the big ten, or the team that played Michigan St at the start of the year. They were consistently in good position and tackled well. Their linebackers may lack talent, but they were gap sound and played with good technique. The offensive line did a decent job against MacDonald's blitz schemes. NW is going to beat someone they're not expected to beat before the year is over.
That's right they pretty much dared Michigan to run the ball for most of the afternoon. As it turned out Michigan actually threw the ball against two deep and quarters looks stubbornly. The obvious intent was to work on the passing game regardless of where the dbs lined up. It also emphasizes the importance of accuracy and zip in the short passing game and the necessary arm strength to throw into tighter windows downfield on the third and mediums or longer when it was needed. The fact that NW pretty much panicked in coverage and grabbed the Michigan receivers on several plays suggests they were more concerned with the skill players on the outside hitting them for big plays than they were with Michigan's star running backs.
On the sack the NW linebacker blitzed from depth as an unblocked. Therefore this one wasn't on the quarterback, but rather more on the slot receiver which was Henning. Henning saw the blitzer first and if he had more experience he probably would've sat down for a hot route and picked up about 20 yards on the play.
On the punt block, Cornelius Johnson showed why he may be the most underrated athlete on the team. That was an explosive play. Anthony did a great job getting down field and wiping out a db on Haskins longer touchdown run.
There were about a half dozen obvious holds against our defensive linemen and blitzing linebackers that weren't called. And how could anyone look at the DJ Turner play and not call offensive PI. What we should like to know is what was that official thinking? That wasn't exactly hard to miss from anywhere in the stadium. Something else we'd all like to know is why do officials seem to think it's acceptable for offensive linemen to hold Aiden Hutchison every play?
The run/pass mix on the drive right before the half was a thing of beauty and if it weren't for the Sainristil fumble, that drive may have set the mood for an even bigger day. The drive right after halftime was even better providing evidence that Blake Corum is one of the most exciting players in the country. Hopefully he'll get plenty more opportunities against two-deep safety looks like he did on this drive. These were drives where you can see the potential of this offense. Minus a few defensive plays against the screen game, in the second half Michigan imposed their will and looked like a team with playoff aspirations. We still haven't played a complete game.
NW schemed against the Michigan linebackers in coverage. The first paly from scrimmage was a wheel route that appeared to be Josh Ross's guy. Michigan was also vulnerable against the screen game when the linebackers needed to get involved. You can expect a lot of screens and wheel routes coming our way from future opponents, including the Spartans, even though Walker doesn't seem to be heavily involved in the passing game.
On the big running play by NW Junior Colston was out of position, but the play went big because Hawkins took a horrible pursuit angle and allowed for the home run. Colston made a great play on one of the screens in the second half.
DJ Turner appeared to check a lot of boxes for what the team has been lacking at cornerback. With Green, Gray and Turner it would be nice if Turner could develop into someone who can cover the top guy, freeing up Dax Hill to roam more and for the other two to cover secondary receivers against a team like the Buckeyes.
NW didn't look like the worst team in the big ten, or the team that played Michigan St at the start of the year. They were consistently in good position and tackled well. Their linebackers may lack talent, but they were gap sound and played with good technique. The offensive line did a decent job against MacDonald's blitz schemes. NW is going to beat someone they're not expected to beat before the year is over.
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